Super-high frequency transmission line

ABSTRACT

A super-high frequency transmission line in which each retaining member of a rectangular dielectric waveguide consists of metal plates pressed against the minor faces of the rectangular dielectric waveguides, the ends of the plates being bent away from these faces so that the reflection from the plates does not exceed a predetermined level, whereas the major faces of the rectangular dielectric waveguide in the horn tapers are arranged normal to the major faces of the rectangular metal waveguide.

United States Patent Aug. 8, 1972 Vzyatyshev et al.

[54] SUPER-HIGH FREQUENCY TRANSMISSION LINE [72] Inventors: Viktor Feodosievich Vzyatyshev; German Danilovich Rozhkov; Boris Ivanovich Ryabov, all of Moscow; Vasily Semenovich Udovenchik, Vilnjus, all of USSR [73] Assignees Moskovsky Ordena Lenina Emergetichesky Institute, Moscow, USSR.

[22] Filed: March 29, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 128,852

[52] US. Cl ..333/95 S, 333/34, 333/98 R, 343/786 [51] Int. Cl. ..H0lp 3/16, H03h 13/06 [58] Field of Search .....333/95 R, 95 S, 98 R, 34, 21; 343/785, 786

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,595,078 4/1952 Iams ..333/95 R 2,737,632 3/1956 Greig ..333/95 S 2,745,101 5/1956 Marie ..343/785 2,791,770 5/1957 Risser ..333/34 X 2,829,351 4/1958 Fox ..333/98 R X 3,201,724 8/1965 l-lafner ..333/95 S 3,452,302 6/1969 Hayany ..333/21 R 3,513,416 5/1970 Rooney ..333/95 R X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 761,659 11/1956 Great Britain ..333/98 R OTHER PUBLICATIONS Butson et al., The Effect of Flanges on the Radiation Patterns of Waveguide and Sectoral Horns, lEE vol 1068, 9-1959, pp. 422- 426 Ramo et al., Fields and Waves in Modern Radio," John Wiley and Sons, 1953, pp. 388- 393 Weiss ct al., Low Loss Dielectric Waveguides,"

MTT- 2 No.3, 9-1954, pp. 38 44 Primary Examiner-Herman Karl Saalbach Assistant ExaminerWm. H. Punter Attorney-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen [57] ABSTRACT A super-high frequency transmission line in which each retaining member of a rectangular dielectric waveguide consists of metal plates pressed against the minor faces of the rectangular dielectric waveguides, the ends of the plates being bent away from these faces so that the reflection from the plates does not exceed a predetermined level, whereas the major faces of the rectangular dielectric waveguide in the horn tapers are arranged normal to the major faces of the rectangular metal waveguide.

2 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures minnows 1912 3.683.299

SHEET 1 [IF 3 PATENTED lllfi 8 I972 SHEET 3 UF 3 Gut QUE Fmt SHE ME w Ht u N & v

QUE E 5A.- 1 m r a .SQ Q a i ZN 5 EL w a :1 M M 1 SUPER-HIGH FREQUENCY TRANSMISSION LINE The present invention relates to devices for transmitting electromagnetic waves of the super-high frequency band and, more specifically, the invention relates to super-high frequency transmission lines comprising a dielectric waveguide and intended for building up various functional blocks such as attenuators, phase shifters, and measuring systems, for example bridge circuits for measuring partial reflections.

Known in the art are super-high frequency transmission lines comprising a rectangular dielectric waveguide complete with retaining members and horn tapers at the end of the line between a rectangular dielectric waveguide and a rectangular metal waveguide.

In the abovesaid super-high frequency transmission lines a rectangular dielectric waveguide is secured within a hollow shielding cylinder with the help of retaining members in the form of thin washers made of a material having a dielectric constant close to unity, while the ends of the dielectric waveguide are arranged within the horn tapers.

Such making of the members for fixing the dielectric waveguide, on the one hand, does not provide for adequately rigid fixing of the dielectric waveguide along the axis of a flexible transmission line and, on the other hand, does not ensure a rigid and accurate joint of the ends of the dielectric waveguide when the transmission line must be complete with separate functional blocks, for example an attenuator of a phase shifter, made of a dielectric waveguide.

An object of the present invention is to provide a super-high frequency transmission line equipped with a rectangular dielectric waveguide and having retaining members ensuring rigid fixing of the dielectric waveguide so that, when the transmission line is made of separate pieces of a dielectric waveguide or is made of various functional blocks, for example attenuators or phase shifters, these retaining members would have a minimum effect on the transmission line characteristics.

According to other objects, in the present super-high frequency transmission line comprising a rectangular dielectric waveguide with its retaining members and horn tapers at the ends of the line between the rectangular dielectric and metal waveguides, according to the invention, each retaining member is made of metal plates pressed to the minor faces of the rectangular dielectric waveguide by a clamp, in which case the ends of the metal plates disposed at least at one side of the clamp are bent off from these faces so that the reflection from these plates does not exceed a predetermined level, the major faces of the rectangular dielectric waveguide being arranged normal to the major faces of the rectangular metal waveguide.

It is expedient that the ends of the metal plates of the retaining members adjacent to the horn tapers disposed at the other side of the clamp are conjugated with the walls of these tapers.

The abovedescribed making of the present superhigh frequency transmission line provides for rigid mounting of the dielectric waveguide made of either a rigid or flexible material without deteriorating the characteristics of the line. Furthermore, the rigid fixing of the waveguide is provided when assembling the line of separate pieces of a waveguide or when bending or twisting some sections of the waveguide.

The invention will be better understood from the following description of one embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a general view of the present super-high frequency transmission line;

FIG. 2 is one of the forms of making the retaining members of the dielectric waveguide of the present super-high frequency transmission line (a section through the longitudinal axis of the dielectric waveguide);

FIG. 3 is the same, a top view;

FIG. 4 is the same, a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is another form of making the retaining members of the dielectric waveguide of the present superhigh frequency transmission line (a section through the longitudinal axis of the dielectric waveguide);

FIG. 6 is the same, a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is the same, a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is the same, a sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is the same, a sectional view taken along the line IXIX in FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is the same, a sectional view taken along the line XX in FIG. 5;

FIG. 11 is the same, a sectional view taken along the line XI-XI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 12 is the same, a sectional view taken along the line XII-XII in FIG. 5;

FIG. 13 is the same, a sectional view taken along the line XIII-XIII in FIG. 5.

The super-high frequency transmission line according to the invention comprises a rectangular dielectric waveguide 1 (FIG. I) with retaining members 2 and horn tapers 3 at the ends of the line between the rectangular dielectric waveguide 1 and a rectangular metal waveguide 4.

Each retaining member 2 consists of metal plates 5 and 5 pressed against the minor faces 6 of the rectangular dielectric waveguide 1 by a clamp 7.

When the rectangular dielectric waveguide l is secured on a support 8, the ends of the metal plates 5 of the retaining members 2 located at both sides of the clamp 7 are bent away from the minor faces 6 of the dielectric waveguide 1 so that the reflection from the plates 5 does not exceed a predetermined level.

If the dielectric waveguide 1 is secured on the support 8, the clamp 7 consists of screws 9 (FIGS. 1 to 4) set in a cantilever 10 and bearing upon an upper gasket 11. The upper plate 5 is pressed to the screws 9 by means of flat springs 12 (FIGS. 1-3). The lower gasket 13 (FIGS. 2 and 4) has a threaded hole 14 for mounting the retaining member 2 on the support 8.

The length L (FIG. 2) of the linear portion of the plates 5 is selected so as to provide: a required rigid fixing of the waveguide 1 in the member 2 and is equal to 20-10 mm. The dimensions 2A and 2B (FIG. 3) are selected so as to provide for a drop of the field of the wave of the dielectric wave guide to a negligible level and is equal to 2)\ m and 1.5 A m respectively, where A is a maximum wavelength of the operating frequency range of the rectangular dielectric waveguide 1 having a respective cross sectional area. For each section of the rectangular dielectric waveguide 1 the value of the radius of curvature R (FIG. 2) and the length M of the curved portions of the plate 5 are selected so that in the given retaining member 2 the level of radiation losses does not exceed 0.1 db, while the standing wave factor thereof is better than 1.05 within one and one-half for the range of l to 1.5 mm.

The same unmodified retaining member 2 can be used for joining the ends of the rectangular dielectric waveguide 1. In this case the ends faces of the waveguides being joined are disposed in the plane IV- IV so that they contact each other, while the ends of the waveguides are squeezed between the plates 5 by means of the screws 9.

FIG. 1 illustrates only one retaining member 2 for fixing the dielectric waveguide l on the support 8. However, depending on the length of the present superhigh frequency transmission line, the quantity of these members may be varied within a wide range. It is clear that the retaining member 2 can simultaneously be used for joining the dielectric waveguides l and for securing the waveguide 1 on the support 8.

When the retaining member 2 (FIG. 1) of the rectangular dielectric waveguide l is located in the immediate vicinity to the horn tapers 3, the ends of the metal plates 5' located at one side of the clamp 7 are bent away from the minor faces 6 of the waveguide 1 so that the reflection from the plates 5 does not exceed a predetermined level, whereas the ends of the plates 5' located at the other side of the clamp 7 are conjugated with the walls of the horn tapers 3. In the described embodiment of the invention the walls 15 of the horn taper 3 are made integral with the plates 5', as shown in FIG. 5.

When the retaining members 2 are located in the immediate vicinity to the horn tapers 3, the clamp 7 is made in the form of a collar 16 (FIG. 5) with a screw 17 and a stop screw 18. The collar 16 and the screw 17 are uses for squeezing the dielectric waveguide 1 between the plates 5 to provide a rigid connection. In order to replace the waveguide l, the screw 17 is loosened and the dielectric waveguide can be easily removed.

The horn tapers 3 (FIG. 1) are joined with the metal wave guide 4 through flanges l9 and 20 of the rectangular metal waveguide 4.

Each horn taper 3 (FIG. 5) consists of three portions CD, DE, and EF providing for smooth transition from the section of the metal waveguide 4 shown in FIG. 6 to the section of a dielectric waveguide 1 shown in FIG. 7.

, As illustrated in the drawings, the major faces 21 of the rectangular dielectric waveguide are arranged normal to the major faces 22 of the rectangular metal waveguide 4. The portion CD (FIG. 5) has a section equal to that of the metal waveguide 4 and a length equal approximately to A of the operating range of the rectangular dielectric waveguide 1. The length of the horn taper 3 smoothly changes on the portion EF (FIG. 5) from the size of the minor face 24 (FIG. 6) of the metal waveguide 4 to the size of the major face 21 (FIG. 7) of the rectangular dielectric waveguide 1. The portion FG (FIG. 5) is the retaining member 2.

FIGS. 9-13 illustrate the arrangement of the rectangular dielectric waveguide 1 relative to the walls 15 and 23 of the horn taper 3 and the plates 5' of the retaining member 2 in various sections of FIG. 5.

In the above-described taper horn 3 conjugated with the retaining member 2 shown in FIG. 5 the level of the radiation loss does not exceed 0.1-0.4 db and the standing wave factor is not higher than l.O3l 10 within one-and-half frequency range.

The rectangular dielectric waveguide 1 used in this super-high frequency transmission line has a section side ratio a/b (FIG. 7) equal to 2. The orientation of the electric field e of the principal wave of the metal waveguide 4 and the operating wave of the rectangular dielectric waveguide 1 are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 respectively.

Given below is a ratio (1) for selectring a sectional area S of the rectangular dielectric waveguide l. The minimum wavelength of the range A mm equal to the critical wavelength of the nearest highest type determines the sectional area S of the waveguide l. e 2. l-2.6 corresponds to a ratio where e is a relative dielectric permeability of the dielectric waveguide 1 made of polyethylene (E=2.3

The present super-high frequency transmission line operates as follows.

The principal wave H of the rectangular metal waveguide 4 through one of the horn tapers 3 excites in the rectangular dielectric waveguide l a working wave, the vector of the electric field E of which is orientated parallel to the major face 21 of the waveguide 1. Due to the smooth transition of the tapers the conversion of the wave I-I into the working wave of the dielectric waveguide 1 is effected at low losses.

When the wave passes through the retaining member 2, the structure of its field is smoothly changed both due to the fact that the plates 5 (5) smoothly approach the minor faces 6 of the dielectric waveguide 1 and because the ends of these plates 5 (5) terminate in the place where the field of the wave of the dielectric waveguide 1 drops to a negligibly low level.

The present super-high frequency transmission line can be assembled very simply of separate pieces of a dielectric waveguide or of separate functional blocks such as attenuators and phase shifters.

If the dielectric waveguide is made of a flexible material the super-high frequency transmission line disclosed herein may contain a great number of twists and bends and this is especially important when the line connects objects moving relative to each other.

This super-high frequency transmission line ensures quick and repeated assembly and disassembly, in which case these operations can be effected automatically.

What is claimed is:

1. A super-high frequency transmission line for transmitting super-high frequency waves from a source having an output in the form of a rectangular metal waveguide to a receiver having an input in the form of a rectangular metal waveguide comprising in combination: a rectangular dielectric waveguide; horn tapers at the ends of the line between said rectangular dielectric waveguide and said rectangular metal waveguide; retaining members for fixing said dielectric waveguide, each retaining member consisting of metal plates; said metal plates are pressed against the minor faces of said rectangular dielectric waveguide; means for clamping said metal plates; the ends of said metal plates disposed at least on one side of said clamping means are bent away from said minor faces of said rectangular dielectric waveguide so that the reflection from said plates does not exceed a predetermined level; the major faces of said rectangular dielectric waveguide in said horn tapers are set normal to the major faces of said rectangular metal waveguide.

2. A super-high frequency transmission line according to claim 1, in which the ends of said metal plates of said retaining members in the immediate vicinity to said horn tapers are located on the other side of said clamping means and are conjugated with the walls of said tapers.

EJNITED STATES PATENT @FFIQE I CE'HWCATE M ECTWN Patent No. 3,683,299 Dated August. 8, 1972 It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patentare hereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet {73] the name of the assignee" should read moszcovsxy ORDENA LENINA ENERGETIcmsKY INSTITUT Signed and sealed this 19th day of December 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD MQFLETCRJR. ROBERT. GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC wan-pea U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 19! 0-3593,

FORM PO-IOSO (10-69) 

1. A super-high frequency transmission line for transmitting super-high frequency waves from a source having an output in the form of a rectangular metal waveguide to a receiver having an input in the form of a rectangular metal waveguide comprising in combination: a rectangular dielectric waveguide; horn tapers at the ends of the line between said rectangular dielectric waveguide and said rectangular metal waveguide; retaining members for fixing said dielectric waveguide, each retaining member consisting of metal plates; said metal plates are pressed against the minor faces of said rectangular dielectric waveguide; means for clamping said metal plates; the ends of said metal plates disposed at least on one side of said clamping means are bent away from said minor faces of said rectangular dielectric waveguide so that the reflection from said plates does not exceed a predetermined level; the major faces of said rectangular dielectric waveguide in said horn tapers are set normal to the major faces of said rectangular metal waveguide.
 2. A super-high frequency transmission line according to claim 1, in which the ends of said metal plates of said retaining members in the immediate vicinity to said horn tapers are located on the other side of said clamping means and are conjugated with the walls of said tapers. 